Clothes-pounder



M. M. O LIN.

CLOTHES POUNDER.

No. 475,887. I Patented May 31,1892;

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IINITED STATES.

ATENT OFFICE.

MILLARD M. OLIN, OF LANARK, ILLINOIS.

CLOTHES POUNDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 475,887, dated May 31, 1892.

Application filed September 7, 1891. Serial No. 404,986. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MILLARD M. OLIN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Lanark, in the county of Carroll and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clothes Founders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a device designed for use in the washing of clothing, and which is commonly called a pounder. In the use of this device the soiled garments are ordinarily placed in a barrel, covered with water,

and then beaten with the pounder to enable the water to penetrate all portions thereof and remove as much of the dirt as possible.

The objects to be attained in the improvement of this device are, first, to cause it to create as much of an agitation as possible on the downstroke, and, second, to make the upstroke as easy as possible, for the reason that it is more tiresome upon the arms than the downst-roke. Probably the best pounder as yet devised for thoroughly stirring up the water throughout the barrel is one which has a. hollow head, which, as it is lifted from the water, becomes filled with air, and then as it is forced downward upon the clothing the air is more or less of it forced outward and, bubbling up through the water, greatly assists in the agitation of the same. If such a pounder should be made air-tight, the loss of this air would cause it to act as a sort of sucker upon its withdrawal, making it stick to the clothing and requiring a greater effort to raise the pounder. To avoid this, the hollow head has been provided with openings about its sides or top to relieve the partial vacuum created. Such openings can not be made, however, without detracting from the efficiency of the downstroke, and it is this difficulty, together with others more or less incidental thereto, that my invention is designed to remove.

Said invention is illustrated in its preferred form by means of two figures, of which Figure 1 is a side View, and Fig. 2 a central vertical section.

The device here shown is merely the pounder-head, and is to be provided with a handle of any desired form, an old broom-handle being perfectly satisfactory, and has a central tube A for the insertion of such handle.

About this tube is secured a shell 13, shaped like an inverted funnel, preferably of tin, galvanized iron, or similar material, and provided near its top with a series of side openings I). Just beneath these openings a perfo rated partition I) is placed, and beneath the partition a valve 0 is arranged to slide up and down upon the central tube A, and it has alight coiled spring D beneath it to hold it normally against the partition and close the openings through the same. The tube A is extended downward to bear a flange a, which furnishes a support for the spring D and which also extends outward with a downward curve almost to the outside shell 13. This is to check the rush of the water into the funnel and also to prevent the clothing from being forced up into the same. For a like purpose the stem A has an inverted-pan-shaped extension a and the shell 15 has an internal flange b almost meeting the lower edge of the pan (1'.

The exact form orproportions of the device here shown are of course not essential, nor is it necessary that the device should be made with all the different elements described. Hence I do not desire to limit myself to the specific construction or to any combinations of all or any of the parts thereof, except as clearly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the operation of the pounder itis forced downward into the water, the valve G, being held closed by the spring D, preventing the escape of the air in the funnel. Thequick stroke, however, eXpels a portion of the air when the plunger strikes the water, causing a violent agitation throughout the barrel. As soon, however, as the downward motion is checked and the return commences the valve 0 opens as soon as any suction is produced and immediately relieves the latter, making the upstroke as easy as possible and greatly decreasing the" labor necessary in using the pounder.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- A clothes-pounder having the central tube A, the perforated shell B, the partition I), valve 0, spring D, and inverted-pan-shaped extension a, substantially as described.

MILLARD M. OLIN. Witnesses:

PETER HoRRIeAN, WILLIAM F. STRANG. 

